Terrebonne students must pay to play

Published: Friday, July 5, 2013 at 7:46 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, July 5, 2013 at 7:46 a.m.

Students who participate in extracurricular activities at Terrebonne Parish schools will have to pay a flat rate of $30 to receive insurance coverage in case of an accident.

The Terrebonne Parish School Board has paid the full student insurance premium for the last decade, but board members voted Tuesday to shift some of that cost.

Under the new plan, any student participating in an extracurricular activity — whether football, marching band or bowling — must pay $30, said Jack Moore, school district risk manager. It does not matter if one activity has more risk involved than the other.

Students will pay that fee for only the initial activity they sign up for, he said, meaning they will not be charged individually for each activity they pursue.

If a student played football, tennis and soccer, for example, he or she would still only pay $30.

It applies per student, not per family. If a family has multiple children playing sports, it will have to pay the fee for each child.

The insurance plan, which covers regular students, student athletes and volunteers involved in extracurricular activities, is effective Aug.1 and has limits of $1 million per student accident and $25,000 per volunteer accident. The total annual premium is $195,700.

Traditionally, the board would have picked up the tab, but Superintendent Philip Martin said the school district can no longer afford it.

“When you’re closing schools, you have to look at other spendings with a higher level of scrutiny,” Martin said. “The insurance is a nice perk for our students. It’s a perk.”

Moore asked schools in the district to estimate how many of their students participated in extracurricular activities each year.

The total number, including those in middle and high school, was about 3,800 students.

If all of those students paid the $30 fee, that would generate about $114,000. That amount would be subtracted from the total premium, leaving the School Board to pay about $81,700.

It’s still not free for the School Board, Martin stressed, but any savings is helpful.

The decision regarding the student insurance fee came after much debate from board members. Many argued the School Board should continue to foot the bill.

Originally, the proposal assigned varying fee amounts to different activities based on their risk level. Baseball, football, cross country, soccer and basketball had a $50 fee; volleyball, cheerleading, tennis and others had a $30 fee; and the band and dance, flag and drill teams had a $20 fee.

Board Member Gregory Harding said some families might not be able to afford the fees.

“For some people, that’s a lot of money,” Harding said. “Especially if a football player has to get cleats or a basketball player has to buy shoes. Schools don’t provide anything.”

Board Member L.P. Bordelon agreed, saying this shouldn’t be a “pay to play” situation.

“You might think I’m exaggerating,” Bordelon said, “but it would put a parent in an awful position if their child was eligible to play in the band but they couldn’t afford the insurance.”

Board member Roosevelt Thomas said he understands the financial situation, but charging students would “not be doing justice to the community.”

“Splitting it or not, it’s still going to cost,” he said. “We should eat more of the cost.”

Although he was confident parents would be willing to pay the fee for their child to participate, Board President Roger DeHart proposed the $30 rate across all extracurricular categories as a way to make peace.

“It will accomplish what the system needs, and it doesn’t overburden,” DeHart said. “Maybe it wouldn’t have come to this if there weren’t different prices.”

<p>Students who participate in extracurricular activities at Terrebonne Parish schools will have to pay a flat rate of $30 to receive insurance coverage in case of an accident.</p><p>The Terrebonne Parish School Board has paid the full student insurance premium for the last decade, but board members voted Tuesday to shift some of that cost.</p><p>Under the new plan, any student participating in an extracurricular activity — whether football, marching band or bowling — must pay $30, said Jack Moore, school district risk manager. It does not matter if one activity has more risk involved than the other.</p><p>Students will pay that fee for only the initial activity they sign up for, he said, meaning they will not be charged individually for each activity they pursue. </p><p>If a student played football, tennis and soccer, for example, he or she would still only pay $30.</p><p>It applies per student, not per family. If a family has multiple children playing sports, it will have to pay the fee for each child.</p><p>The insurance plan, which covers regular students, student athletes and volunteers involved in extracurricular activities, is effective Aug.1 and has limits of $1 million per student accident and $25,000 per volunteer accident. The total annual premium is $195,700.</p><p>Traditionally, the board would have picked up the tab, but Superintendent Philip Martin said the school district can no longer afford it. </p><p>“When you're closing schools, you have to look at other spendings with a higher level of scrutiny,” Martin said. “The insurance is a nice perk for our students. It's a perk.”</p><p>Moore asked schools in the district to estimate how many of their students participated in extracurricular activities each year.</p><p>The total number, including those in middle and high school, was about 3,800 students.</p><p>If all of those students paid the $30 fee, that would generate about $114,000. That amount would be subtracted from the total premium, leaving the School Board to pay about $81,700.</p><p>It's still not free for the School Board, Martin stressed, but any savings is helpful.</p><p>The decision regarding the student insurance fee came after much debate from board members. Many argued the School Board should continue to foot the bill.</p><p>Originally, the proposal assigned varying fee amounts to different activities based on their risk level. Baseball, football, cross country, soccer and basketball had a $50 fee; volleyball, cheerleading, tennis and others had a $30 fee; and the band and dance, flag and drill teams had a $20 fee. </p><p>Board Member Gregory Harding said some families might not be able to afford the fees. </p><p>“For some people, that's a lot of money,” Harding said. “Especially if a football player has to get cleats or a basketball player has to buy shoes. Schools don't provide anything.”</p><p>Board Member L.P. Bordelon agreed, saying this shouldn't be a “pay to play” situation.</p><p>“You might think I'm exaggerating,” Bordelon said, “but it would put a parent in an awful position if their child was eligible to play in the band but they couldn't afford the insurance.”</p><p>Board member Roosevelt Thomas said he understands the financial situation, but charging students would “not be doing justice to the community.” </p><p>“Splitting it or not, it's still going to cost,” he said. “We should eat more of the cost.”</p><p>Although he was confident parents would be willing to pay the fee for their child to participate, Board President Roger DeHart proposed the $30 rate across all extracurricular categories as a way to make peace.</p><p>“It will accomplish what the system needs, and it doesn't overburden,” DeHart said. “Maybe it wouldn't have come to this if there weren't different prices.”</p><p>It was unanimously accepted.</p><p>“We have financial difficulty,” Martin said. “That always results in less than desirable consequences.”</p>